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STAFF REVIEW of All Zombies Must Die! (Xbox 360 Arcade)

In today's gaming world, blowing away zombies has quickly become a popular choice of developers and gamers around the world. There are games like Left 4 Dead, Dead Island, and there are even zombies making appearances in the Call of Duty and Halo game types. Then we have this title, All Zombies Must Die for 800 MS points on the Xbox Live Arcade. The tale of this game is nothing we haven't experienced before; a group of individuals must survive a zombie outbreak and live to talk about it. While this seems to be the basic premise of almost all zombie games, lets dive into All Zombies Must Die a little bit more and see just what lurks deep within the shadows.

From the beginning, one thing is made very clear, and that is this game is going to be filled with numerous grinding gameplay. The controls are fairly straight forward with the left stick assigned to movement and the right stick used to aim your firepower towards the nearest zombie's head. There is an upgrade system in this game that allows limited customization of your weapons so that you can apply fire, sonic, or even mutative properties to your weapon of choice. The top down view allows you to survey the area, plan your pathway through the mobs of zombies, and search for collectibles that will help you eliminate more undead zombies than you can fire your shotgun at. Throughout the game you will find yourself going through the same areas multiple times, and each time you seem to be looking for something new and it's this grinding, fetch style gameplay that will become very old very fast.

If you're looking for stellar graphics then this isn't going to be the game for you, as they are somewhat cartoonish and outdated. It almost looks as though you are playing a bunch of cartoon characters in their young teens battling a massive amount of cartoonish zombies. The same can also be said for the sound of the game which leaves a lot to be desired and leaves you thinking "why did they even bother" with such a mediocre approach to the graphics and sound. While that is a major disappointment, the biggest kick in the pants has to rest with the fact that there is no online co-op so if you want to game with friends you better make room on the couch. This is a massive disappointment because even though the game is not one that will be a benchmark for other titles, the fun factor really goes out the window when you can only play local co-op.

For 800 MS points All Zombies Must Die does provide some entertainment, however with the absence of online co-op play, lackluster graphics and sound, this is a game that will become very boring very quickly. With other great titles on the Xbox Live Arcade for 800 MS points that offer a lot more enjoyment and online play with others, All Zombies Must Die is a perfect example of how something that could have been very good gets turned into something very generic and boring. Should you spend your 800 MS points on this game? If you like wasting your points then by all means download away.

Suggestions:Seriously no online co-op when you release a game that is on a console with a heavey online multiplayer feature? Whoever thought that was a good idea needs to go.